Tennis players serve up backslang

In our February 2010 diary we look at how English has become so well understood in the dressing rooms of the international tennis circuit, that British players are resorting to their own secret language

Court talk ... Laura Robson master of 'backslang' was runner up in the Australian Open girls' singles final. Photograph: Jon Buckle/PA

Call for more research into languages in businessInternational companies rely on the language skills of their staff to grow and compete across borders, but more research needs to be done to understand the role of languages in business and to develop effective training.

However, it says that much of the money currently being spent by companies on language training and assessment is being wasted because of the lack of globally recognised standards and tools.

The Tirf report calls for more coordinated and detailed research.

Tennis players serve up backslang British female tennis players revealed at last month's Australian Open tournament that the level of English among international competitors has become so good that they have to resort to their own coded language or "backslang" to keep their pre-match dressing room conversations private

Laura Robson, 16, who reached the girls' singles final in Melbourne revealed that she and her compatriots have been speaking in backslang for years.

"All the British girls know how to speak it, because you're in the changing rooms at tournaments and everyone is speaking in their own language and you speak in English and they can understand, which is really annoying," said Robson.

"It's been around for ages. It's just gibberish really, but it's very useful. It's very interesting. If you're in the changing rooms and you start speaking it with the other British girls all the foreign players get so annoyed."

Australian owners line up Study Group for floatThe Australian private equity firm Champ, which owns Study Group International, the English language and university preparation course provider, is con sidering floating the company on the Australian stock market.

Media reports have put the value of a float at $540m, according to Reuters.

Study Group International operates academic English preparation programmes on university campuses in the US, UK and Australia and also owns the Centre for English Studies and Embassy English international language schools chains.

Champ has said that it would also consider selling the business outright. "While an IPO is our preferred option, we will also not rule out a possible trade sale of the business," the group said in a statement.Champ bought Study Group from the UK-based Daily Mail Group in 2006 for $160m.

Robot teachers predicted in South Korea classes by 2018 A meeting of South Korean robotics experts in Seoul last month heard predictions that English-speaking robots would replace native- speakers in English language classrooms within a matter of years.

"By around 2015 robots should be able to help teachers in English classes. By 2018 they should be able to teach on their own while communicating with students," Kim Shin-hwan, an economist at the Hyundai Research Institute, told the Korea Times newspaper.

Kim said that many of the estimated 30,000 native English speakers who currently teach English in South Korea could be out of a job.

"At first, the English-speaking robots will be used in a similar fashion to e-learning, or study via the internet because the robots would be controlled by humans across the Pacific. However, they will evolve into stand-alone teachers, which do not need human guidance."